Owen, who was playing for Liverpool at the time, bagged the Ballon d'Or in 2001, beating Real Madrid legend Raul and Bayern Munich icon Oliver Kahn to the prestigious individual award.

He received 176 points in the Ballon d'Or voting, 36 more votes than his nearest rival - after inspiring Liverpool to a cup treble, which included the FA Cup, League Cup and UEFA Cup.

The star forward, who scored 24 goals in the 2000/01 season, was just the fourth English player to win the prize after Stanley Matthews, Bobby Charlton and Kevin Keegan, who won it in back-to-back years in 1978 and 1979.

Despite the prestige the Ballon d'Or carries, Owen claimed he had no idea what the award was.

He was informed of his triumph after a phone call from then-Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier, who told him he had won the Ballon d'Or.

Speaking to talkSPORT, Owen recalled: "When Gerard Houllier phoned me and said, 'You’ve won the Ballon d’Or', I’m like 'What’s that gaffer?'

"I didn’t know what the award was. I never did because I never even knew what it was.

"Back in those days it was never in our press."

Owen's prolific spell at Anfield alerted Real, who swiftly acquired his services.